The Quest to Find You
by Once.upon.a.happy.ending
Summary: It all started with Emma overanalyzing something Henry said. Now, she's more determined than ever to do the right thing and get her son back... only, is her son who we all think he is?
1. The End and The Beginning

It all started on a day in the park. The whole family was together, just sitting around and having a picnic. They were just sitting around having lunch on their checkered blanket when Henry said something that got her brain going. "I'm so glad that you're my Mom," he told her, watching as Zelena lectured little Robin on putting grass in her mouth. It hit her then. Was she really his mom?

Well, of course, she had to be! She had been playing the role for the last six years as if she was. But, in this case, time didn't matter. Was she _biologically_ his mother? She tried to shove the thought down and out of her mind, telling herself not to think of such awful ideas, but it just kept gnawing at her, eating her from the inside out, until she couldn't take it anymore.

It was an awful thought, to begin with, and for weeks she had been convincing herself that she was just being paranoid, but it caught up with her in places it shouldn't. Her hands were shaking, she was having problems sleeping, she couldn't focus on her work... she had even burnt pancakes a few days ago... and it wasn't because of Killian this time!

So, she took matters into her own hands. She worked out a plan in her head and did what she could do the easiest without him catching on. She bought him a lollipop. She knew that he had a tendency to leave the sticks lying around, and that was why she chose that instead of a drink or some other kind of food. This one was easier to just swipe up without notice.

For a second, when he got up to get a water, she thought that he took it with him and she lost her chance, and suddenly regretted all the times that she lectured him on picking them up, but looked over and realized that he left it there. She was never more glad that he got his tiny amount of cleaning skills from her, not Neal. _Stop it, Emma. He might not even get anything from you, so stop thinking that way._

She walked past the kitchen table as he ran up the staircase to his room, and picked up the little lollipop stick, placing it in a plastic bag. "Henry, I'm going out! Don't get into too much trouble!" she called after him, going to the door after swiping her keys up off the counter. "Oh, and Killian will be home around 5," she called, but once again heard no response. She scribbled down a note, stuck it on the door for Killian, and walking out the door.

She practically ran to her car and jumped into it. She was maybe a little bit too anxious to see what she would find out. She walked through the sliding doors to the hospital, being greeted by many of the little kids that she went to see on the weekends sometimes. "Hey," she whispered, ruffling one of the little boy's hair before rushing over to Whale's office and shutting the door softly behind her. "Emma, what can I do for you," he asked, glancing up from his computer. He finished recording something from his notebook before closing it, providing her with his full attention.

She handed him the bag, and he surveyed it for a moment before he looked back up at her, a very serious look on his face. "Is this, like, a joke or something, Ms. Swan?" he asked, pausing to wait for a response, but she just stammered, closing her eyes lightly and chuckling. "Because I really do not know what I'm to do with this... stick, but I do have other work to finish," he said, glancing up at her from the plastic bag, much like he did with his computer.

She was so anxious in that moment that she didn't even correct him with the mistake he made saying her name but instead stepped forwards. She placed her hand on his desk. It took all of the willpower she had within her not to reach across the desk and rip the bag out of his hands because part of her really didn't wanna know, but the part of her that did gave in.

She basically choked on her words, not wanting them to come out any more than she wanted them to, but she felt like they _had_ to. It would continue to eat at her, and Killian would continue to ask her what was wrong until she ended up back in the hospital anyway. "I- I need you to run a DNA test. That's Henrys," she said, and he nodded once, looking as if he was about ready to protest, but instead stood, opening the door and asking her to follow him down the hallway.

he took her into a large room, filled with many different machines that were flashing and making noises, and asked her to sit down on a stool next to a desk filled with machinery. "Do not touch _anything,_ " he warned, looking far more serious than she had seen anyone in quite a long while. She nodded as he went over to a machine, taking the stick out with a gloved hand, and placing it beneath a large lens. He then walked over to Emma, another stick in hand, and asked her to open her mouth.

He took out a bit of spit from the inside of her cheek and placed it under the exact same machine, studying it carefully. Emma sat, her hands folded up nicely in her lap, but trembling furiously. She wanted to just curl up into a little ball and cry instead of needing to sit here and wait for information that would determine the rest of her future. But, coincidentally, that was the only reason why she really did need to stay. Whale sighed, taking the swabs out from under the lens and printed something out, taking it off of the printer sitting on the shelf above them.

He then turned around papers in hand and looked her in the eyes. "So, Emma," he said, handing her the papers. She looks at them over, and over, and over again, but she still cannot for the life of her understand what she is reading. It's like her brain is unwilling to process it. She mumbles a quiet 'no,' that isn't quite loud enough for the doctor to make it out as a word, so he just takes it for a grunt of acknowledgment.

It wasn't like she had never noticed the subtle differences between her and her son or even things that he didn't share with Neal, but she never really could imagine that he wasn't hers. She thought that all children had differences with their parents, whether it be physically or personality-wise. She just assumed that the website had to have been right, or a little boy, with brown hair and brown eyes, just like the father of her child, would have never made it to _her_ doorstep. The doorstep of a woman who had given away a little baby boy ten years prior.

She opened her mouth in shock and tried to hold back the tears building up quickly as she looked up to Victor Whale. That man had delivered some of the worst news she had ever received, and probably ever would. She wanted to curse him and his whole family. She wanted to _hurt_ him. She wanted to _torture_ him, or better yet, have Killian do it. But, all she was able to bring herself to do was say, "Thank you," and walk out of the room, trying to make it to her car before the tears _really_ started.

She sat in her car for quite a while, maybe twenty minutes, just sobbing. Every few seconds, she would try to make it stop and just pretend that she was about to go and have dinner with her husband, and the son that _she_ gave birth to, and then go to bed while he was just down the hall. Every time that she did that, though, she would sit and begin to cry harder than before, wishing that all the fantasies in her head were actually true and that she could say that she was actually happy with the result of that stupid test.

There was also the freakin' _stellar_ fact that she actually _did_ give birth to a little boy, that was somewhere out there, either completely miserable, with a different family, or worse. _Both._ She had failed him, just like her parents failed her, as Gold had failed Neal, as whoever Henry's birth mother was had failed him. Now, she had two jobs to do instead of one. First, she had to tell everybody, and take care of whatever Henry wanted to do next, whether it was to find his birth mother or not. Then, she had to go and find wherever her little boy was, and either let him be with his new family or to give him a home.


	2. Here's Your Home

Eventually, Emma decided to suck it up. She knew that there would be plenty of time for tears later, so she drove home. She was hesitant to just reach forward and open the door, but when she did, she was glad. Killian was there in the kitchen, standing beside Henry as they helped each other make dinner. "You finally pried him from his room," she acknowledged, pretending just for the time being that there was nothing going on. Just give us right now, she thought, going to hug her husband by the stove.

They all ate dinner as a family, something that happened on rare occasion because Killian was normally working, and Henry just wanted to keep reading his book, or doing whatever in his room. After that, she decided that it was time to come clean. "So, uh, can I talk to the two of you before you go?" she asked, and both Henry and Killian nodded, both of them walking back to the table. "I went to see Dr. Whale today," she said, noticing the instant panic that filled Killian's eyes. "And I, uh, I got some interesting and… unexpected news," she said, and both Henry and Killian looked at each other, thinking exactly the same thing.

She couldn't do it. She literally just stopped talking, pulling the papers off of the top of the fridge where she had placed them so Henry wouldn't find them. "Well," she said, handing the papers over to Killian. Killian read over them first, looking up at her and staring as he passed them over to Henry to read.

Henry started shaking, and Killian put his hand on his shoulder as he looked up at his mother. "What does this mean, then? Are you giving me away?" he asked, and Emma shook her head, walking over to him, having him turn in his chair to face him.

His face was already turning red, something that only ever happened when he felt sick. He was feeling exactly the same way as she had at every home she was ever in, and she wanted it to stop. She knew how bad it felt and she could not and would not let her son feel that way anymore.

Emma squatted down to lower than his level so that she could talk to him properly. "Henry, look at me, kid," she whispered, putting her hand on his arm. "Nobody is giving you away right now. You don't have to go away, but you don't have to stay, either. Whatever you wanna do, I'll take care of. If you wanna find her, I'll help you, and if you don't, then I'll keep you here with me and Killian," she whispered, taking his hands in hers. "But, Henry, I promise you that no matter what you decide, whether Killian agrees or not, you will always have a home with me," she promises, standing as Henry nodded, pulling at Emma's arm to get her to hug him.

He looked at both of them, wiping at his eyes to get the tears to go away and stood. "I'm gonna play a game and then go to bed, it's late," he said, looking at the clock. Emma hadn't realized how long it took for her to break the news to her family, and it was already almost eight o'clock. Emma and Killian both went to bed shortly after Henry, at around ten thirty.

She went to sit on the bed and wait for Killian to finish in the shower. That gave her time to think. Neal won't ever know. That was one of the things that was starting to bother her, too. He absolutely loved Henry, so much, and not it was becoming apparent that Henry had never even been his son. If only there was a post office that would send mail to heaven, and she could just write him a letter that explained everything. Still, it would be better if she could just bring him back.

She wouldn't leave Killian for Neal or anything, she just wished that Neal was there so that she could tell him all of this and they could deal with this one together. She loved Killian, she really did, but she could tell that he didn't really understand what this felt like. She stared at the wall, her eyes on the big painting that Killian asked her to paint of the ocean. "Love, are you alright? You look vexed," he says, walking over to where she was sitting on the side of the bed. He put his hand on her back, facing in her direction.

She nodded, staring at the water in the painting and pretending that it was real as if they were on the Jolly Roger. "I'm assuming that this is one of those moments when Bae would be much better at this, and I'm sorry that he's not here, love," he told her and she nodded, leaning against his shoulder. "I'm also quite sorry that I can't understand exactly what this feeling like, but I do hope that it's better than it would be if you were alone," he whispered, and she nodded once again. He kissed her on top of her head. He noticed that her eyes were drooping as she began to fall asleep on his shoulder.

He put his hand on her lower back and she sat up, wondering what was going on. "Let's rest, love. We can talk in the morning," he whispered, and she just nodded, knowing that there was nothing better to do right then than to just rest.

They both got ready for bed, throwing pajamas on and brushing their teeth before crawling into bed. Killian could tell almost immediately that Emma either wouldn't be sleeping, or she would be plagued with nightmares as she did so. So, he thought for a moment and decided to do something he rarely did because Emma thought it was too sappy. He scooted over close to her and pulled her into his arms.

Her head fell against his chest and her arm curled up to hold onto his. She was lying on her back and he was on his side, and she decided not to try to put her arm under him. He felt her grip tighten on his arm as he readjusted himself so that he would be more comfortable in their position, and he just couldn't do with what he knew she was thinking. She couldn't let go of him and lose another thing that she loved today. "I'm going nowhere, Swan," he whispered, hugging her tighter. She squeezed his hand in thanks before she slowly drifted off to sleep.

 **I forgot to put a note at the end of the last chapter because it was really late last night, I'm so sorry!**

 **So, a few things about this story. This is my first CaptainSwan story. I'm going to try to write it Swanfire, too, just to see how that goes, but I wanted to put this here for you guys to enjoy. This might be pretty short if people don't post REVIEWS on it because those are the only way I know that you actually really like it and that this is worth my time.**


	3. An Unexpected Surprise

Killian looks over at Henry, who's walking towards him with a suitcase of Emma and Killian's things combined. Emma said that they didn't both need two suitcases, but they needed more than one, so they shared one. "Lad, are you sure you don't wanna come with us? We can wait for you to pack," he says, picking up his own suitcase off of the ground and placing it in the trunk.

Henry reaches the car, setting the suitcase down in it and then goes over to Emma, taking her suitcase and setting it down carefully into the trunk next to Killian's suitcase. "I'm sure. You guys should do this alone. You gotta go and get my brother. Just- wait, how will you find him? Wasn't it a closed adoption?" he asks. Killian thinks for a second but has to look up at Emma for help when he realizes that he's been expecting her to tell him how to find the boy.

She shakes her head at both of them, chuckling. "We have to go to a special place and ask them to search his name. If he's there, that means he needs a home, if he's not, then he has one already," she explains. Killian just looks over at Henry, shrugging.

Emma sits on the passenger's side of the car, opening the glove box and putting the map back into it, where it was before she and Regina had to go and find Robin. She closes the box with a click, hitting her head trying to get out of the car. Henry's eyes widen as he looks at her, standing because he had been waiting for her to finish putting it away.

She chuckles at the concerned expression on his face and hugs him tightly, "I'm fine. You be good for Regina, okay? We'll be home soon, hopefully with your brother," she tells him and Henry nods, going to give Killian a hug after he closes the trunk.

Killian wraps his arms around Henry, holding him tightly. "We'll call you when we get there," Emma tells him, giving him another hug. "I love you, kid," she whispers into his ear.

He nods, leaning back and looking at her. "I love you, too. Remember to call me," he says. Emma nods, giving him a kiss on the head before getting in the bug and closing the door. Killian watches out the window as they drive away, staring at Henry until he runs inside and slams the door.

Killian sighs softly and Emma glances over at him but turns her eyes back to the road. After another sigh, though, she's on it. "What's wrong, Killian?" she asks, her voice monotone as she stares at the road ahead of them, thinking about how much longer this car ride will feel- or _be-_ if they get into a fight right now.

He looks out the window, not responding. That's when Emma skids to a stop, thankful that they haven't passed the town line yet, where she could very well get a ticket for that. "What do you want?" she asks, anger in her voice as she stares at him. He just turns around but saying nothing. "What do you want?" she asks again, growing more and more impatient the longer he refuses to answer her.

He looks out the window and to the woods in a true Hook-like fashion before looking back at her. "It's not that simple, love. It's-" he says, but she interrupts him, knowing full-well that the conversation is going nowhere unless she buts in.

"What do you _want?!"_ she yells at him, making him jump in his seat and stare at her with wide eyes. "Look, I get that you feel bad for Henry, but we have taken care of him. Right now, I'm more worried about my _other_ son, who is either all alone somewhere, or he could be living an amazing life with a family. Until I find out which, I'm not gonna even think about going back to Storybrooke. So, if you are, you can get out and go back to Henry," she says, acting much more like the pre-ice cave Emma that he loves as much as the normal, happy and sweet Emma.

Hook nods and Emma smiles at him, "Okay," she whispers, leaning over the center console of the car and kissing him on the cheek before taking the car out of park and continuing to drive.

It only takes a little while for her to notice that there's _still_ something bothering her pirate, so she pulls over into the parking lot of the diner outside Storybrooke. "Hey," she whispers, unbuckling and reaching over the center console once again. "I'm sure that Henry's okay. Are you hungry? There's a diner right there," she whispers. Killian nods, unbuckling as well and getting out of the car. He meets Emma in front of where they're parked, taking her hand.

Emma tilts her head to the side, seeing the back of a very familiar person at the breakfast bar talking to the waitress. "Is that-?" Killian asks and Emma tilts her head more to the side, letting go of Hook's hand and walking over to the person.

She walks up behind them, wanting to reach out and put her hand on his shoulder, but she knows that will be incredibly awkward if it is not, in fact, who she thinks it is. "Neal?" she asks. Surely enough, the man turns around, only to reveal a very, very excited Neal. He stands up, giving her a hug as Killian walks over to them, giving Neal a hug as well.

Neal looks over at her, his eyes wide as he smiles brightly. "What are you two doing here?" he asks, not realizing exactly what he's about to find out. They walk over to a table, Killian following behind Emma and Neal. He's not too upset that Emma needs to talk to him right now, seeing as they're on their way to find their missing child.

Hook sits across from them, the two of them sitting facing each other. "Neal- I gotta tell you something," Neal's quiet, waiting for her to finish instead of interrupting and asking what she needs to tell him. "I did a DNA test. On Henry," the terror that broke across Neal's face in that moment was enough to rip Killian _and_ Emma's hearts both to shreds. "He's not ours. He's still with us, though. We told him that he was still our son if he wanted to be and that we could take him to go and find his birth mother, but he said no. We're on our way to try and find our _other_ son now," she explains.

That's where Killian looks at both of them and shakes his head. "Wait, what are we to do with this other child when or if we find him?" he asks. Both Emma and Neal look at him like he's lost his mind. "Would he live with us, or would we just be glad that we've met the boys and move on?" he asks, sounding much like the latter would be ideal for him.

She looks across the table at him, seeing his stance has changed and he is now sitting leaned back, his hand on his face and his legs crossed. "We would give him a home, Killian," Emma says slowly, checking to see if that registers in his mind. His face changes from a look of pleasure to a look of frustration. "Because he's our son. If he needs a home, he has one with us," she tells him, but Killian just leans against the table.

Emma doesn't know if it's Neal's sudden reappearance that's bothering him or the fact that Henry chose not to come, but she knows that there is not a single happy feature she can pick out from his expression. "He's _your_ son," he says. Emma looks at him wide eyed as he begins to lash out. "Now, you didn't tell me the whole story, love. You said we would go and _find_ him, not retrieve him," he says, but Emma just shakes her head in disbelief and looks away from him. "I mean, we should've started planning what his room should look like, or what we should do with him on his first day with us, not just stuck to finding the poor lad," he says and both Emma and Neal smile, Emma jumping up to give him a hug.

They stay like that for a while, Neal watching with a big smile on his face, knowing that Emma found someone to make her happy, even if he did make it a habit of scaring the crap outta her every once and a while. "Wait a minute..." he says, leaning back from Emma and looking between her and Neal. "You two didn't _really_ think I'd say the boy should be alone, did you?" he asks. Emma looks down and Hook laughs at Neal's expression. "I would never dream of it, you two," he says, looking Emma in the eye before pulling her into another hug and kissing her temple.


	4. Discover The Destination

"So, when did you guys find out?" Neal asks, taking the container of mac and cheese from the waitress at the counter as they all begin to walk back over to their table. "Did Henry take it well?" he asks, looking over at them. Emma looks over at Killian who just shrugs. This is Emma and Neal's conversation, not his.

She tilts her head to the side, thinking about how long ago it was that they found out. It feels like it's been quite a while, but she knows that it hasn't really been that long. "A few days ago, I think. He took it well, but that was after we had to tell him we wouldn't send him away," Emma says.

Neal nods, looking off the edge of the deck and into the woods beneath it. "Poor kid," he whispers, just trying to imagine the only Henry he knows- his little boy- thinking that his parents didn't want him anymore and just because he found the wrong ones. That wasn't even his fault!

Emma nods, looking off to where Neal's looking. She knows that now, not only Killian but he, too, wants to go and get Henry. That can't happen yet, they need to find the other kid first, because who knows what could be happening to him right now, but there's also the fact that Neal is supposed to be that happy one who's telling everyone that 's'okay' but he's sad and that's not good for anyone.

So, what does she do when Neal Cassidy, the eternal optimist, is upset? She tries to distract him until he's happy again. "Anyways, I think it's kinda weird that so much has changed at our house, but over at Regina's, everything's the same as always," Neal looks up at her, the look on his face proving that he thinks she's crazy. "Think about it. She didn't know who his parents were before she adopted him, so really, it doesn't matter over there because she's still his mom, no matter who his birth parents are," she states, keeping her eyes on Neal. She might have to whip out inside jokes in a minute and not only would that be awkward for Killian, but he might not even remember some of them.

Neal looks up at her from his bowl of mac and cheese, which he had started eating again since she started talking again. He tilts his head to the side a little bit as he thinks. "But isn't it always gonna be different for Henry? The poor kid tried to find his mother off of a website. If he's not different in the Truest Believer way, I'd sure say that way is," he says, taking a sip of the water in front of him. Emma nods slightly in agreement, but Killian just sits there looking confused.

He lays his hand flat on the table, closes his eyes in disbelief and looks over at his girlfriend. "So, wait... the lad found you in the magic box?" he asks. Neal puts the cup down, putting his hands over his face as he laughs. He thought that Killian could have probably learned some more modern-world terms by now, but apparently, anything that is technology is still a 'magic box.'

The only thing that could maybe be funnier than the amount of time it takes Hook to learn the this-world terms, is Emma's attempt at describing them, but he remembers that she's used to dealing with Hook. It sounds like they've even moved in together. "Yeah. He used Snow's credit card to pay for it, too. Without asking nicely or getting the password from her," she explains and Killian looks at her with an expression of horror. Neal laughs at it and Emma glares at him.

Henry once used the word 'password' when he was describing the security lock on Emma's phone that prevented any other person from using the device, unless they, too, knew the number code. He can remember the look on Henry's face when Killian informed him that Emma shared that number with him, but he wouldn't tell the boy what it was.

After a few moments of silence, besides Neal's laughing, Killian speaks up. "So, Bae, are you coming along?" he asks. Neal looks over to Emma, who kinda just shrugs and nods. He then looks back to Killian nods definitely. "This is gonna be fun!" Killian says, looking in between the two of them. They smile and nod at him, neither of them having any doubt that they would make some amazing memories on this trip, but there would also be plenty of awkward moments.

After Killian gets over his excitement, Neal looks over at Emma and leans over the table. "So, what's your plan?" he asks, sounding impatient and worried. He's one of the few people who knows as much about the system as she does. That also means he knows how cruel the kids and adults in the system can be. He doesn't want his little boy to go through what he and Emma both went through in that department.

She sighs and leans back against her chair. She takes a deep breath in, giving him an uncertain look as she explains her idea. "We go to Child Services and pray that they'll be able to find him," she explains. Neal looks at her and nods, the way he would do when she had a good idea while they were on the run.

Killian, however, is much less sold on the whole idea (Emma figures it might be because he doesn't know what exactly Child Services are). He looks at her with a blank expression, rolling his eyes. "Where exactly might we be going?" he asks, looking in between the two of them.

Emma looks at Neal, giving him a smile that Killian doesn't recognize; a smile that shows something that he's never seen in her eyes. "Back to Portland. Where it all started," she says and Neal smiles brighter than Killian has ever seen anyone smile. "I know, it's not Phoenix, but I just got a feeling," she whispers.

Neal nods in understanding and they all stand up, headed back to the car, Neal driving, Killian in the passenger side, and Emma behind him and ready to correct him when he makes a navigating error so that Neal may be less likely to scare him with all the yelling he could do if they end up in the wrong state.


	5. We Need a Break

Neal pulls into the gas station driveway, his hands shaking in pure frustration. Emma sighs from the backseat, putting her head in her hand and looking up at the sign. "Why are we stopping, Bae?" Killian asks from the passenger seat, looking behind his seat at Emma, who looks completely prepared for a loud outburst from _someone._

Neal sighs, slamming on the breaks on the side of a gas pump. He uses the sides of his hands, which are balled up into fists, to bang on the rim of the steering wheel. "Because I'm going to murder you!" he exclaims, hitting the wheel with every syllable he says. Emma looks up at Neal, who sighs and gets out of the car, slamming the door.

Emma chuckles and puts the gas pump in, staying back with Neal while Killian went inside to start looking for things that they might need. "He's just trying to learn, Neal," Emma says and Neal nods, sighing. "I know, he could be less annoying. Five more minutes and I would've been just as frazzled up as you are," she says and Neal chuckles, looking over at her as she pulls out the gas pump.

She smiles at him, taking his hand and they begin to walk into the gas station. Killian runs over to her, smiling brightly. "Swan, what is a 'cheetos'?" he asks, bringing a bag of them over to her. Neal looks up at him, taking them and putting them in one of the little baskets.

Killian tilts his head to the side as the little orange bag is ripped from his hand. "Something we're getting. Do they have alcohol here?" he asks Emma, who just chuckles and shakes her head in amusement before walking off to go and find some other things they would need.

Neal walks over to her, seeing some of the items she has in the basket and tilting his head to the side. "Why do we need band-aids?" he asks, looking up from the box at her. She shrugs, looking up at him. "I guess you never know," he says, chucking them back in the basket. "Who's paying for this, by the way?" he asks. Emma raises her hand, continuing to look through the different kinds of headphones because she forgot hers at home.

Neal tilts his head to the side, looking over at Killian, who just shrugs. Neal knows for a fact that Emma will absolutely refuse to let anyone else do it if she's made up her mind. "Fine, but I'm getting it next time," he says, watching as she picks up a pair of white earbuds and put them in the basket. (Yes, Emma is supposed to be keeping Neal sane in the car, but it's gonna be really hard to do that if she's not sane herself.)

Then, they make their way over to the drinks and fill up on Starbucks frappuccinos, because Emma said that she can literally drink a whole one in less than two minutes and Neal would honestly like the test that theory. "Vanilla, caramel, or mocha?" he asks, looking over at her, who's trying to convince Killian not to peel the sticker off of the earbuds container.

Emma looks up for a split second, still trying to push Killian's hand away from anything with a price sticker on it in the cart. "Anything but caramel. I don't- Killian, stop it!" she all but yells at him, causing him to look down at the ground and pout like a two-year-old. Neal stifles a chuckle and picks up a few of each, some for the original plan and then some for the sake of caffeine.

Emma looks over at the slushy machine and tries so hard to convince herself that they don't _really_ need them, but the second Neal catches her doing so, he's there, grabbing off a cup and filling it with cotton candy and cherry flavored ice. "Dang it, Neal," she mumbles, walking over and doing the same. Killian looks at it confusedly and Emma can't tell if it's because he's never had one, or because he thinks the machines are demonic. "Here," she says, handing him her cup and letting him try some of it.

He makes a disgusted face as he swallows it, looking up at the machine. She chuckles a little bit, alongside Neal, who also laughs at the pirate. "Well, there's other flavors. Most people don't like this one," she says, pointing up at the Green Apple one. "Neal included. I just like it because it's different. Most people go with ones like Blue Raspberry, Red Cherry, Coke, Mountain Dew… Ones like that," she says, grabbing him a cup and showing him how to operate the machine correctly.

Emma forgets for a second that Killian actually has two hands now. Well, not really, but the prosthetic attachment to his brace is the one that she made him wear out in public, so he can use it to press the buttons and the other one to hold the cup. So, theoretically, he could do it on his own if they tell him when to stop so it doesn't overflow out of the lid.

Emma smiles at him, helping him figure out what to do with it once he's filled it up. "Guys, we should go if we're gonna get to Manhattan by tonight," he says, looking up at Emma who just looks at him. "We gotta drive like, three more hours. More, if there's traffic," he says and Emma nods, going over to the cash register and putting the basket on the counter, emptying the contents and having the cashier scan them.

Emma whips out her debit card and pays for the stuff- which in all cost much less than she thought it would- and they were out. Killian got just the Cherry slushy, fearing that if he mixed two flavors like Emma and Neal did, he wouldn't like one of them and would have to throw it away. "I think I like this one," Killian says, getting to try it better once they've actually paid for it and can go get in the car.

Emma nods, looking up at Neal, who smiles back at her as they sit in the car for a moment, just enjoying each other's company before Hook would have to go back to navigating, Neal would be losing his sanity and Emma would be trying to help him _regain_ his sanity.


	6. Traffic Jam

"Oh my God, just go! Go already!" Neal yells to the car in front of them, sighing and leaning his forehead against the top of the steering wheel rim. Killian's in the passenger seat, confused as to who Neal's yelling at because it wasn't himself this time and he knew that Bae would _never_ direct the language he's been using in the past few hours towards Emma, who's sitting in the backseat with headphones on.

After Neal's latest outburst, Emma rips the headphones out of her ears and changes seats, going to sit behind Neal in the car. It wasn't like that was such a bad idea, seeing as they were sitting in standstill traffic at the moment. She puts her hand on his shoulder, rubbing it as best she can.

It's clear that he's anxious and it's not about the traffic. It's about the fact that they could be late to the hotel and that Killian's being a little bit more obnoxious than usual and their son is probably out there somewhere without a family. "It's okay," she whispers. Killian reaches over and puts her hand on his other shoulder, squeezing it once before letting go.

Once people start parking their cars and getting out of them, having conversations with everyone else, Killian unbuckles and Emma goes to sit on the center console. Neal reaches over and turns on the radio. "A lot of traffic out there, tonight, folks. I'd get cozy, it's not expected to move until around 5ish," the radio announcer says before playing some song that no one knows the name of. Neal turns it off, sighing and leaning against the steering wheel again.

Emma smiles at him, taking his hand and rubbing the back of it softly, tracing shapes on it with her fingers. "We're gonna make it there on time," she promises, looking up at him before turning around and putting on the CD player, which plays a mixtape of some of their old favorite songs, like Only You and Charley's Girl. He instantly smiles when Only You comes on.

Emma lowers it so that the music is just playing softly in the background and looks over at Neal and then back to Killian. "We'll get there. We just have to be patient. Let's play a game," she suggests and both of the boys nod, waiting for her to say what they should play. "Fast five?" she asks and Neal nods, already getting a little bit excited.

Killian looks up at her confusedly. Emma turns around when Neal points this out and keeps a hold of Neal's hand while explaining very animatedly what the game is. "So, someone playing picks five subjects, normally it's favorites out of the few, but sometimes it least favorites or a list or something. Then, everyone playing says their answer. Like this; Least favorite ice cream topping?" she asks.

"Coconut," Neal answers promptly and Killian nods, looking over at Emma with a new understanding in his eyes.

Emma nods once at him, looking him in the eye. "Got it?" she asks and he nods, waiting for her to list the categories. "Okay, um… Color, Food, Word, Book, Quote," she lists and Neal takes just one minute before responding.

He looks at the radio as he answers. "Red or Yellow, Mac and Cheese, Ominously, I guess Ender's Game, 'Just because my path is different doesn't mean I'm lost,'" he lists at a terrifying speed and then looks over at Killian, who tilts his head to the side while thinking.

He slowly remembers each of the categories before listing his own. "Green, Cookies, Ravishing, Romeo and Juliet, 'Storms Don't Last Forever,'" he rattles off and waits a minute before nodding. Both Emma and Neal nod, impressed before it's Emma's turn to say her answers for her categories.

She looks at the backseat as she talks, a little bit embarrassed about some of her answers because they happen to be very, very basic ones. "Blue, Grilled Cheese, Epitome, Everything Everything, 'No one is sent by accident to anyone,'" she says and both of the boys nod, not making any mean comments or making fun of her, but both of them just accepting her answers.

She raises her eyebrows slightly when nothing happens. "My turn, right?" Neal asks and Emma nods, getting excited. Neal was normally the one to come up with the more creative topics that she had to answer, she was just hoping that they weren't inappropriate. "'Kay… Pen Color, Cookie Flavor, Smell, Least Favorite Medicine to Take, and Favorite Ice Cream Flavor," Neal says and Emma laughs, but Killian just raises an eyebrow.

Emma starts this time because she went last the time before, rattling off all of her answers to Neal's ridiculous questions. "Black, Snickerdoodle, Lavender, I hate all pills, Cherry Vanilla," she says, watching Neal and he nods, smiling at her as he waits for Killian to think of all his answers and say them.

"Let's see… Blue… Red Velvet, Ocean Water, I think it's called Mucinets or something, and Cookie Dough," he lists.

Neal nods, looking over at him from around Emma. "Mucinex? Yeah, I agree it's gross," Neal says, thinking of all his own answers. "Red, Chocolate Chip, Emma's hair, Advil, and Neapolitan," he says. He looks out at the road, seeing that people in their lane are starting to move a little again. "It's really 5? Already?" he asks, starting the car back up as Emma sits back down.

Emma shakes her head, looking at her phone to check the time once again. "3:30. I guess they found a shortcut?" she suggests and they all just shrug, seeing that the cop is leading people off the road and around the crash. "That's one way to do it," she says and Neal smirks, driving off the road and making Emma squeal, holding onto the handle on the door.

They continue playing fast five until they can't come up with any more categories, so Emma puts her headphones back on and ends up falling asleep in the backseat. When the boys up front look back and see that she fell asleep, they also notice that she's shivering. Neal pulls over and takes out a sweater from his suitcase from his apartment in New York (he got it before they all met up, just hasn't been mentioned) and puts it on her before going back into the front seat and continuing the drive to Manhattan.


	7. The Arrival in Manhattan

**A little something I was able to type up in the past few hours. Sorry I haven't updated, I haven't had too many ideas. I put up a new story. It's called The Things We Have.**

Neal climbs into the backseat of the car through the door opposite the side that Emma's sitting on and reaches over, about to wake her up so that they can go and find something to eat in the little shopping center about an hour outside of Manhattan. The plan was originally to wait to eat until they got there but Killian's about to crash and Neal doesn't wanna drive all alone in the car.

Killian walks to the door of the side that Emma is sitting on and tries to open the door. Neal is thankful that it's still locked, or Emma would have practically fallen out of the car because she's leaning against the door. "Hey, you can't do that, man," Neal tells Killian, who just makes a confused face before shrugging, waiting for Neal to get Emma out of the car.

Neal moves closer to her, sitting down in the middle seat and reaching over to touch her arm, shaking it lightly. "Em, it's time to wake up. Come on, we gotta go," he whispers and she jolts awake. He smiles, remembering that old habits die hard. She relaxes after she realizes that they're not in Portland anymore. "We're gonna stop and get dinner, both of us are crashing," he says and Emma nods, opening the door and stepping out of the car.

She tilts her head to the side for a second before she realizes something. "Why am I wearing your sweater?" she asks and Neal chuckles as they walk into the little restaurant.

As they walk to the table that the waitress leads them to, Neal sits on the opposite side of her and Killian. "Because you were turning into a human icicle and leather wouldn't have helped as much as something warmer," he says. Emma nods, taking one of the menus from the end of the table and looking for something to eat.

She couldn't tell what would be an appropriate meal at 7:30 at night, so she just goes with a cheeseburger and figures that she can take it to go for later if she doesn't finish it all. The waitress comes by to get their drink orders and then to get their food orders before going away. Once everyone's had a hot cocoa, they're all much less grouchy. Not completely energetic and ready to conquer the world but at least not falling asleep sitting up.

They sit and eat dinner for a while before continuing the drive into Manhattan, when Emma sits in the backseat of the car and make them turn on the radio, playing a mixtape that Henry had so generously put together while Emma was speed packing a few days before they left.

They get to the hotel at around 9:00 because there was traffic when it suddenly becomes completely unreasonable that they're staying in a hotel. "Why are we staying in a hotel and not your apartment?" Killian asks Neal, looking over at him as they get in the elevator to go up to their room on the top floor.

Neal sighs, taking the card out of the little envelope and putting the envelope in his pocket, holding his backpack over his shoulder. "Because it still smells like blood and attempted murder," he replies, smiling cheekily as they walk over to their room at the end of the hall. "We can stop by tomorrow and pick up a few things before we keep driving.

Emma sighs as they open the door, "Right, driving. Ew," she says and Neal laughs. Emma flops down onto the bed closing her eyes and just laying there until Killian and Neal can decide who's going to walk through the door first.

"Really, love? What're you doing?" Killian asks first upon walking into the room and seeing Emma atop the really, really tall bed. "It's only nine o'clock _and_ you slept in the car," he says and Emma groans, sitting up and looking over at them.

Even though Killian's over in the corner scolding Emma for doing whatever, Neal is concerned with putting things away and just getting settled for the night in the hotel before they have to get driving again the next day. "And… I forgot to pack pajamas. Of course, well, I guess I need the keys so I-" Neal cuts Emma off by throwing a shirt at her. "Or not. Thanks," she says, going from the bedroom to the bathroom to go and change from her jeans and t-shirt to the gym shorts and apparently Neal's t-shirt that she would be using as sleepwear for the next few weeks.

Killian looks over to Neal before looking away and sighing and Neal looks over at him, sighing as well. "Look, I'm not trying to take Emma away from you, she obviously wants you, so just leave me alone, okay? I'm just here to find my son and then you can go back to ignoring me. I get it, Emma chose you, Emma hates me, Emma wants to be with you, Emma loves you," he says, throwing some things out of his bag to use later.

"What?" they both hear coming from the hallway. Emma looks between Neal and Killian, her gaze falling back to Killian in the end. "Did you say that to him?" she asks, knowing that Killian can be a little bit _jealous_ at times and she doesn't know whether or not this is one of those times, given that they are going to find Emma and _Neal's_ son. "Dear God I told you that I wasn't gonna cheat on you or do _anything!_ Why are you telling him these things?" she asks, looking gesturing over to Neal as she speaks.

Both men stand, their jaws dropped as they're practically frozen in their positions from before she walked into the room. "Neal, I swear I never said _anything_ like that and I'm so sorry if my _boyfriend_ said that I did," she says and Neal shakes his head, still looking stunned. "That is also me asking if he said I did," she says, looking over at him and he shakes his head rapidly, like a child that was being scolded.

She sighs, walking back into the bathroom to properly brush her hair. "Well, that was interesting," Killian says, looking over at Neal and pulling a face before continuing with organizing his suitcase. Neal laughs, walking over to the bed and going to plug in his phone before laying down on the bed, putting a pillow on his lap and his laptop on top of it before beginning to click away at the keys.

Emma walks back into the room a few minutes later and stands in between the two queen sized bed, looking at the two of them until they both look up. "Okay, I'm completely sorry for that, I shouldn't have gotten mad at anyone. I just... I love both of you very much and completely equally in very different ways and for me to think that one of you told the other that I don't is absolutely infuriating. I'll try not to assume things next time," she says and both the boys nod, Killian going to the head of the bed to continue his chapter of _Lord of the Flies_ while Emma sits down and starts editing photo's on her laptop.

After about a half hour of this, they all put whatever they're doing away and turn the lights off, laying down to go to sleep. Emma moves over to Killian and lays her head on his chest, her face buried in his thin t-shirt. "I love you guys," she mumbles and both of the men occupying the room respond before all conversation in the room stops and everyone begins to fall asleep to the sound of each other's breathing.


	8. A New Day

**Geez, I haven't updated this in forever. I hope you guys are still reading these. Pleaseee go look at the other stories on my profile if you haven't! Enjoy!**

Emma's the first to wake up in the morning. She doesn't know what made her wake up at seven o'clock- and without an alarm at that- but she doesn't mind. She yawns before untangling her limbs from Killian's and getting out of bed. She walks over to her suitcase and opens it up, pulling out an outfit before opening the bathroom door and going to get in the shower. Even though she took a shower the night before, they

She gets out about twenty minutes later, getting dressed and walking over to her phone which is filled with text notifications from her family and friends that built up overnight, most of them asking about how Neal got back.

Instead of replying to them each individually, she goes and puts everyone on a group chat and sends a text explaining that they're in Manhattan, everyone's safe, they'll stop in Cincinnati tonight, and they have no idea how Neal's back. Afterwards, she checks the clock seeing that it's already almost 8 and she decides to get up and wake Neal and Killian up so that they'll be able to start driving by 9 and get there by 7.

She walks over to Neal first, knowing that it will take him twenty minutes to convince himself that getting out of bed is worth it. She sits down on the edge of the bed, reaching over and shaking his shoulder. "Hey, it's time to get up," she says and he wakes up, groaning and rolling over so his head's under the pillow.

Emma chuckles, going to put her phone down on the bed before opening the curtain. Part of her wishes she had a horn so she could play the fanfare and both of them would get up already so that she didn't have to spend fifteen minutes convincing them that life is worth living. After a few minutes, she comes up with an idea. "Guys, donuts," she says and they both jump up, looking to her and expecting her to actually have donuts. "Downstairs. Get dressed," she says and they both jump out of bed, throwing clothes on and half running out of the room.

Emma chuckles, following them to the elevator. They're both jumping up and down in the elevator and have to use everything in them not to run to the donut section of the complimentary breakfast area. Emma smiles, watching as they discuss the taking of donuts, probably talking about how they'll split them up and share them. She walks over and grabs a plain glaze one before walking away to get some sausages and a biscuit.

They walk over to a table and eat together before heading back to the hotel room, Emma high on caffeine and practically shaking from the amount of coffee in her system. "Here, it'll get the coffee out of you," Neal says, passing back a water for her to flush her system with. She nods in thanks and takes the lid off of it, swallowing a few big gulps full before realizing that she had finished the whole thing.

Neal takes the bottle back, going to throw it away. They load everything into the car within five minutes and head off towards Neal's apartment. He runs up, leaving Emma and Killian in the car for about ten minutes while he gets his stuff from it and coming back down, throwing his duffle bag into the back seat with Emma and continuing the drive.

They only can drive so long before taking a rest stop which was completely Emma-initiated because she had to go to the bathroom, probably because of the giant cup of water Neal gave her back in the hotel.

Killian goes into the gas station with her, seeing as Neal didn't want her to go in alone but Killian couldn't stay in the car in fear that he would scare the crap out of the people getting gas and because they actually did need gas and he didn't know how to do that.

Since the night before, everyone had been getting along better. Something about the way that Emma had phrased _something_ had to have struck a chord with both of them and they were actually being nice to each other; Killian stopped giving Emma and Neal looks when they were talking about something that didn't really concern him, Neal stopped looking all sad whenever Emma was being all cuddly and girlfriend-y with Killian, and Emma actually got a chance to do whatever while the two of them sat in the front seat and talked about Neverland and the Enchanted Forest.

The drive to Cincinnati was actually kind of fun despite the fact that they had to stop a few times in traffic. The last chunk of traffic was the worst because it took the longest. They were sitting in the car in stopped traffic for a few hours, to the point where people had turned their cars off. Some were napping, others had started making conversation with other people, and then others had actually walked to the closest store for snacks and such.

Emma and Neal had decided to stay in the car, but Killian had walked off to the gas station that was visible from the car for some drinks, mostly because Emma was looking like she was about to pass out from dehydration and Neal was starting to get grumpy for whatever reason.

So, they stayed back in the car while the person that was the most suitable to go went to get drinks and hopefully something to eat. Neal looked back into the seat behind him at Emma, who really did look like she was going to tip over any second.

"So, on a scale of one to ten how bad do you feel?" he asks, climbing over and sitting on the center console while he looked at her. His inner doctor kicked in and he took her wrist, checking her pulse.

She looked at him and sighed, sitting up a little bit. "Probably a seven. Can you see him yet?" she asked and he shook his head, turning around just to double check. She took in a deep breath and held it, trying to make anything of this.

Neal's eyes lit up a second later and he put his hand on her leg. "Just a second," he said, turning around. He got back into his seat and looked into the driver's side door, which had a half-drunken water bottle sitting in the cup holder. "I saw this yesterday. Thought it was nasty at first but it doesn't look moldy or anything, so…" he said and she nods, taking it and drinking the rest of it in less than a minute.

He sits with her, watching to make sure that she's okay because while she's had something to drink now, she still doesn't look like she's feeling 100%. He turns around a few seconds later and sees Killian walking back to the car with a grocery bag hanging from his hook.

Neal opens the door for him and sighs, taking the bag from him quickly and opening a bottle for Emma. "What took you so long, man? It's like it took a million years," he complained, looking at Killian as he got back in the car.

Emma sighed a bit as she took the water from Neal and downed the whole thing in less than five minutes. Killian watched her and he sighed, looking over at her and turning around in his seat. "I'm sorry, love. There were lots of people in the line," he explained and Neal moved back to his seat.

Killian turned around and climbed over the console. He moved over to Emma, putting his hand on her back and kissing her temple. "Are you okay?" he whispered sweetly, completely concerned for his love. She nodded, closing her eyes and leaning against him.

"I'm okay. The water helped," she mumbled and he smiled, squeezing her shoulders softly. "Thank you," she whispered and he nodded, smiling brightly at her before he looked up to see all the cars beginning to move once again.

He kissed her temple once again before climbing back over the seat and sitting beside Neal, getting nice and comfortable beside him before he started the car and they left their spot in the middle of the highway to make their way to Cincinnati.


	9. Late Nights and Jealousy

**Jeez, I haven't updated this in so long. It's been a long, long time but I'm going to try to start a schedule for updating all of my stories, so that will be good. Thank you for reading this and I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

By the time they get to Cincinnati, it's dark outside. Killian's gone into the backseat of the car and Emma's taken his place while he sleeps in the backseat. He'd been worried about her after they stopped because apparently, she didn't look too great.

Now, she sits in the front seat besides Neal while Killian takes a nap in the backseat. One song comes on the radio and Neal starts humming quietly to it. "Hey," she whispers, turning the radio down a little bit and looking over at him. "Do you think he's okay?" she asks and he shrugs, looking into the backseat, only to find him holding onto Emma's blanket or dear life.

He shakes his head, blinking a little bit quickly before responding. "I think that he's… worried? I think that he's doing that because it's helping him remember that you're okay. I don't think that he's completely okay," he states and she nods, letting out a short sigh.

He looks back into the back seat and smiles a little bit, seeing that he seems to care about her a lot if he's so worried. "I'm happy for you, Em," he tells her quietly and sweetly and she looks at him, reaching over and taking his hand. "I'm glad he loves you," he tells her, taking her hand and kissing it lightly.

She smiles at him, nodding and reaching over to kiss him on the cheek. "Me, too," she nearly shouts, forgetting to be quiet because Killian's sleeping and she says it incredibly loudly. Both Emma and Neal's eyes widen as she turns to look into the backseat, seeing Killian looking at her, still holding the blanket.

She smiles at him, "Hey," she greets and he blinks hard and fast, looking up at her and shaking his head, leaning back against the window. She looks to the back of the car in concern and Neal looks at him in the mirror before looking back at Emma and gritting his teeth.

She sighs, looking over at Killian and watching as he begins to shake with silent sobs. Her eyes widen, and the second they get to a stoplight she's climbing over the center console to get to him. She tries to be a little bit quiet so that she's not screaming and scaring him. "Hey," she whispers, putting her hand on his arm.

He immediately turns to her, his arms going around her waist and she grunts in surprise, wrapping her arms back around him. She starts to rub his back to try and calm him down, her hands shaking a little bit as she puts her hand down over his good one.

She stays in the back of the car with him for around ten minutes, up until they arrive in the hotel's parking lot. It's then when she lets go of him and he looks up at her, and then out the window at the hotel's lights. "Are you okay?" she asks, but receives no response as he opens the car door and gets out.

The expression on his face says that he's upset with her, but more importantly, that he doesn't want to talk about it. That meant that she would be getting no words from him for a while- at least a few hours, and quite frankly, she wasn't okay with that.

She looks at him as he exits the car and she follows him, getting out of the car and walking up to meet him and Neal. "Here ya go," Killian says, handing Neal his bag before taking out his own. He then silently grabs Emma's and passes it over to her before shutting the trunk and walking away quickly.

He's walking ahead of them, into the building before Neal stops Emma. "What is goin' on with him?" he asks and she shrugs. He can tell that she's getting upset just by the way she's breathing.

She stops and presses her hand down on the handle of her suitcase, sighing in agitation as she looks over at him. "I don't know. I tried to take care of him, I mean… is that a bad thing to do?" she asks and he shakes his head, looking back over to Killian and then back to Emma. "He wouldn't even answer me a minute ago," she mumbles and he doesn't say anything.

Instead, he makes a short face before stepping forwards and giving her a hug. She sighs and wraps her arms back around him, fully accepting the hug. "Maybe it's about what was said in the hotel in Manhattan," he suggests and she looks down at the ground, scratching her arm. "Or what was said in the car a few minutes ago. Maybe he heard it and thought the wrong thing?" he asks her and she rolls her eyes, looking back over at Killian.

She catches him looking at them before looking right back to Neal. "Well, then, too bad. I'm not going to walk on eggshells around him, and I'm sure not gonna stop talking to you just because he can't grow up," she states bravely and he nods once, looking her in the eyes and putting his hand back on his suitcase handle.

He straightens out his back, giving her a look which mimics her actions. "Okay, then. Let's go," he says over-confidently and she smiles, beginning to walk alongside him.

Killian's waiting for them when they walk in and he hands each of them a room key card. Without saying anything to either of them this time, he begins to walk towards the elevators Emma speeds up and stops him. As she does so, Neal lets them know that he'll go up while they talk.

She looks Killian in the eye and stops him, putting her hand on his shoulder. "What's the matter with you? Why are you doing this? I didn't do anything wrong," she states and he looks her in the eyes, glaring as tears begin to form on his own.

He locks his jaw before beginning to talk. "Neal told you he loves you and you said it back to him," he accuses and her eyes widened, her facial expression turning into one of offense. "Don't deny it. I heard you, in the car," he states and she glares back at him, biting her lip as he speaks.

He shakes his head at her and sighs as she talks. "He said that he was glad that you love me and I said 'me too,'," she states and he shakes his head, rolling his eyes. "And as for when he kissed my hand… I don't take that as something that's all that romantic or anything like that. He's my friend- one of my best friends, actually. I say that he's allowed to do it as long as it's nothing too personal. So, if you have a problem with that, then maybe we should just-" he cuts her off by leaning in and kissing her.

She pushes him away. "I was talking." She puts her hand back on her suitcase. "I was saying, that if you have a problem with the fact that I have friends, then you should get out right now," she states and he sighs, looking over at her and shaking his head.

"I don't, love. I'm sorry I can tend to get jealous sometimes. I just don't like this whole thing. You two have quite the history together," he states and she nods, looking over at the wall. "But, I suppose I can make myself look at it differently," he tells her and she nods, looking at the ground.

She puts her hand down off of her suitcase. "Thank you," she mumbles and he nods just before she pulls him into her arms. He smiles at her as they then let go and begin walking upstairs to their room.


End file.
